Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1887-12-08
THE PROGRESS OF ANNEXA
TON IN NORTH IDAHO.

convened few weeks ago and DISCUSSED
the expedie1cy Of q renewal of ouI
demand upon congress to grant us the
favor Of becoming attached to Washing.
ton Territory, and with her to become Il
state. This action was by come deemed
important because it had repeatedly been
charged in the Southern part Of the
territory, that majority of our people
had become reconciled to stay with
Idaho, since we had before expressed
TO congress by our vote and by our
petitions that we wanted to be Joined
with Washington. BY others it was
contendcd that renewal Of the express
sion Of our desire was unnecessary and
useless as congress already knew oar desire
upon this question. But the majority
at that meeting was Of the opinion that
. renewed expression Of our desire could
do no harm and it was resolved that
petitions be prepared and sent out to the
different counties, with the request that
they be signed and returned to the com
mittee to be forwarded to Washington.
No special agents or canvassers were sent
out to circulate and obtain signers to these
petitions their circulation was left to
the people themselves in the different
precincts. Up to the present time what.
ever has been done towards circulating
and having them signed has been done
voluntarily by the people without any
urging. Enough have already been
signed and returned to show that no mater
ial change Of sentiment Of the people has
taken place on the question. Many
have signed who, at the last election,
would not vote for annexation candidates
and although il could not reasonably be
expected that 10 country SO thinly
Inhabited and 80 widely settled, these
petitions could not, without special ex-
ertion, be brought to the attention Of
every settler for his signature, as much
- as at an election day when voters are
10 ;ether for voting. Yet in the pre-
cincts which have made returns thus far
the full number Of signatures correspond
ing with the former vote of each, aud,
iu some instances, the signatures to the
petitions have exceeded the number Of
voters returned at the last election, show.
ing that the number Of anneyationists
have increased rather than diminished in
those precincts. We already have re-
turned, from the mining districts north,
several hundred signatures from PROM
inent MEN, where our Southern enemies
had charged there had been so great =
change on the annexation question, and
where we had some reason to doubt the
result, 20 much exertion had been made
BY Delegate Dubois aud his friends to
effect change. Up to the present
writing NO have not had returned the
result Of the petitions being circulated,
We have heard of two or three petitions
being circulated in one or two localities
10 the mines in favor Of annexation to
Montana. These We expected, because
they did the same last year, at the in
stance Of Montana capitalists and miners
who came from Montana, who had not
then, and IS we believe, have not now
any faith or expectation to secure the
annexation of any part of North
Idaho to Montana. 1t is reported to us
that the sentiment in favor of Montana
in tho mines is not SO strong now as it
was at the time OF the last election,
which was before congress passed the
HALEY and Voorhees, bill, which the
president neglected to sign. Many are
claiming that Dubois, when in the North
did great deal towards changing the
sentiment Of the people of the North
against annexation. But while he came
out boldly aud proclaimed that he should
oppose annexation while in congress,
which he had not done before, it does
not seem to have manufactured many
anti annexationists among our Northern
citizens. Our people generally are not
clay in the hands of the potter to be
moulded into any shape to suit the
whims Of delegate who tells US that be
will oppose what We for a score of years
have earnestly sought to accomplish, to
wit: An alliance with Washington in
stead Of Idaho. Mr.. Dubois is reported
recently to have claimed that his election
- delegate, was chiefly due to his posi-
lion on the Mormon question. and not
to his position as opposed to annexation,
which We believe is true; for his oppon.
mt, Mr.. Haley, beat him by about 500
10 the Northern counties, and would
have more than doubled that number
had not the chairman Of the republican
central committee sent telegram North
ust on the eve of the election, that
haley was opposing annexation in the
3outh and making speeches against it,